NBC conducted a nationwide open casting call for the lead role Dorothy in live musical "The Wiz" and just this Wednesday, Today revealed who won the part – Shanice Williams.
Williams then first shared the good news to her mom.
"Mom, I've got to tell you something," Williams said. "I got the part!"
Out of the hundreds of applicants, the 18-year-old New Jersey native won the hearts of the judges. This will be her first TV role. She had five years of musical training including piano and dance. She also appeared in local productions such as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "West Side Story," "42nd Street," "Pippin," and "Seussical." She was also nominated for best leading actress in a musical last year at the Paper Mill Playhouse's Annual Rising Star Awards.
"Right now I'm just ready to jump in and show the world what I have to offer because I've been waiting for the moment - it feels like forever. I'm only 19 but it feels like so long just asking, 'How is this going to happen for me?' So now that it's finally here, I'm just happy to have this opportunity," Williams said in a report from Philly.
Well, Williams' did have quite a big shoes to fill as Diana Ross portrayed the role in "The Wiz" 1978 big-screen version. But of course, having to beat out a lot of aspiring actresses, everyone is definitely rooting for Williams to wow the audience pretty soon.
She will be joined by a star-studded cast – Queen Latifah as 'The Wiz'; Mary J. Blige as Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West; David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion; and Stephanie Mills who previously played as Dorothy in the first Broadway production will be playing Aunt Em.
The show is adapted from L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by William F. Brown's book, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The first production was in Broadway in 1975 which won seven Tonys.
